Louie: The Parker Posey Recap, Part Two

Featuring an extremely weird date

We talked to Parker Posey about her two-episode guest-starring role on Louie, in which she goes on a one-of-a-kind date with the star. Click here to read the first part about last week's episode.

ESQUIRE.COM: Do you think that your character would have said yes to Louie if he hadn't been so bumbling when he asked her out?

PARKER POSEY: She tells him in the bookstore, "I don't go for guys with looks. I did it for a while — it was a nightmare." So I think she thinks he's funny. And needs help. I think she wants to show him an energy, you know, the potency of Don't think about anything, just walk. She wants to show him, as someone who's open and free and nice, and then you see that there's something deeper going on by the end of it. You know, there are many layers to her, and to people. And I think the vulnerability in her takes him by surprise. There's the mask that everyone puts on, the theatricality of New York City, the reinvention of yourself for other people. I think she has lots of secrets.

ESQ: I never knew when to believe what she said. Even "Oh, I don't date guys for looks." Which, at first, I took at face value, but it became questionable.

PP: Oh, that's great.

ESQ: And I wondered if she finds these men who are sort of complacent and a little bit scared —

PP: Lost.

ESQ: Yeah, lost. And then she takes them on this crazy, magical journey. Is that something she makes a habit of, or is Louie special?

PP: You know, that's to be thought about. I didn't really make a choice there, but I think you're right on. She opens up to him because there's an instant connection, as he reminds her of someone, which is why she laughs at him. And she reminds him of an ideal. So she's a projection of what he's seeing. That's the other layer to playing a woman on Louis C.K.'s show. He created my character, so the projections change in the writing. It's his show. There's an unreal quality to it, too. She's going to be who he thinks she is, and then the layers come off. Does she really feel seen by him? Did she help him? Is he in a drama? And then there's another interpretation, where this is a woman that needs to have a drink. Because she has so much pain, and she's about to crumble. She opened up, and now she's deeply ashamed.

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ESQ: That great performance from the bartender not giving her the shots of Jagermeister seemed to set off the whole manic episode. And I wondered how much of it was her trying to prove to him, and to herself, that she was fun and awesome and didn't need booze.

PP: It can totally be looked at in that way. But then I think there are layers to that show that are interesting, too.

ESQ: Louis is notorious for having these really tight scripts and having everyone stick to them. But your part felt like some of it might have been improvised.

PP: No. I just read my lines. It's all id. It's all Here I am, right in front of you.

PP: Oh. "Let's be honest with each other." It's not if you lie. It's about being honest.

ESQ: Right.

PP: It's different than a betrayal.

ESQ: It's more positive, I guess.

PP: Yeah, because she wants to meet the real person. She doesn't want to play that game. She's tired of it. She's going, This is how I want this encounter to be. I'm taking control of the moment, and this is how it's going to play out. And then it changes. People need to do that more with each other.

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ESQ: Have you ever had a date like that?

PP: No!

ESQ: No, of course not. What was I thinking? Gorging at a deli, almost killing yourself. Just a typical New York night. I sort of interpreted the scene where they're in the deli as though she's like the food. She's a little too rich for Louie's blood. He can't handle that much of her.

PP: I like that.

ESQ: Because Louie is always saying things like, "I just eat a pint of ice cream and jerk off." And then the rest of his life is junk food, and she's...

PP: She's like, "This is to be savored," right? Life is to be savored. It's not cheap. It's not empty. If these amazing people give you this incredible food at this place, take it in. Life is short. She feels she has a time limit. Everyone's moving at a different pace. He's in ice cream mode. She probably fasted the week before. Keep walking, keep moving. And she's still compelled to save that guy.

ESQ: A lot of times I felt like she was trying to push him to try new things, but then I also felt like she was just trying to make him prove he liked her.

PP: Yeah. I think she's making a story, a memory. I'm from the South, and someone talked about this idea that your life should be remembered. The encounter is about I'm going to make an impression. I may never see this person again, but they'll never forget this moment. Now look at Nora Ephron. Right? I mean, this is a woman that — every encounter was so A-plus. A-game. Not many people can have the capacity to do that.

ESQ: Did you ever meet Nora Ephron?

PP: Yeah. She gave me my first job. My first Hollywood job in a movie called Sleepless in Seattle. My scene was cut, and she wrote me a beautiful card saying how she was sorry, and it had nothing to do with me. And then she cast me in Mixed Nuts. I was rollerblader number two to Jon Stewart's rollerblader number one. I had $1.75 in my bank account. When I went to work, she gave me a hundred dollars. I had no money. And then I was in You've Got Mail, and we would have lunch every so often. I'd reach out to her for advice. She was a very special woman. She loved Louie.

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